Importance

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Abstract

A network interconnection device having a router connected by a plurality of links to at least one multiport switch is presented. Each of the plurality of links is connected between one port of the router and one port of the multiport switch such that each link represents a separate path between the router and the multiport switch over which data packets may be transferred. Sets of links are defined as hunt groups, which contain multiple instances of a given resource. Each port has a forwarding engine. When a packet arrives at a router port, the forwarding engine checks if the packet destination port belongs to the same hunt group as the packet sending port. If the destination port and the packet sending port belong to the same group, the packet is sent back through the same port through which it arrived without having to pass through the router backplane, thus transferring the packet efficiently.

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First Claim